New maritime cyber security analyst emerges

The chief executive officer and founder of the container shipping analyst SeaIntel Consulting, Lars Jensen, has launched a new company focusing on cyber security in the maritime industry.
The company, CyberKeel, brings together technical experts in cyber security and systems penetration, Jensen said.
“The maritime industry faces a significant risk in terms of cyber security, and it is the assessment of CyberKeel that the current cyber security level in the industry as a whole is inadequate,” Jensen said. “The challenge is not merely related to the technological security solutions, but to a significant degree also to awareness concerning the nature, likelihood and potential impact of the risk.”
He cited security breach examples from within the last few months, including the successful penetration of the Port of Antwerp’s systems, successful manipulation of the course of a vessel in the Mediterranean, as well as the manipulation of Automatic Identification System (AIS) data for existing vessels.
“CyberKeel is focused on assisting companies within the maritime industry improving their approach to cyber security,” Jensen said. “This includes dedicated training and consultancy services for individual companies as well as an initiative to create an industry-wide approach to step up cyber security. In terms of cyber security, the prevalence of custom-built backend systems amongst shipping lines, ports, terminals, stevedoring companies, chartering companies, etc., combined with the lack of proper cyber security measures in many stand-alone hardware systems, leads to significant opportunities for entities with malicious intent.”